[Central Asia] Natural Landscapes of Tajikistan: Mountains and Lakes
Hello, I hope you have a great day.
Today, we will summarize the state of agriculture in Tajikistan.
1. General Agriculture
- In Tajikistan, 73.8% of the labor force is engaged in agriculture, yet agricultural imports constitute only about 20% of the GDP. Thus, the economic contribution of agriculture is relatively small compared to the number of people involved.
- The share of agriculture in GDP has declined rapidly from 23.5% in 2014 to 19.8% in 2019. Poverty rates are notably high among farmers, with 75% of the poor and 72% of the extremely poor residing in rural areas.
- Additionally, many men migrate to countries like Russia for work, resulting in 75% of agricultural workers being women.
2. Farmland
- All farmland in Tajikistan is state-owned and is distributed as agricultural enterprises, dehkan farms (Dehkan or Dehqan), and small plots allotted to households.
- Dehkan farms originated from collective farms (kolkhozes) during the Soviet era, distributed to farmers as cooperative farms. There are 172,678 dehkan farms, making up 60% of the total farmland.
- Dehkan farms have a unique legal status, allowing farmers to hold land shares they can buy and sell freely for 50 years, with the right to use the land collectively.
- The communal land within a dehkan farm is managed by a representative, and these farms are typically larger than individual household farms, which average 2 hectares. Dehkan farms primarily cultivate cotton, wheat, and vegetables.
- Agricultural enterprises account for 5.6% of total agricultural production, dehkan farms for 38.5%, and small household farms for 55.9%.
- The high percentage of small farms is due to their ownership of 95% of the livestock and production of high-value crops like potatoes, vegetables, grapes, fruits, and berries on small plots of land.
- Major environmental issues impacting agricultural production and productivity in Tajikistan include land scarcity, pasture degradation, water shortages, deforestation, and climate change. Additionally, the country is vulnerable to natural disasters such as earthquakes, droughts, floods, landslides, and avalanches.
- Like other Central Asian countries, Tajikistan faces soil degradation due to steep slope cultivation and erosion.
- Farmland is located in arid and semi-arid regions, and is expected to be affected by irregular and declining rainfall, rising temperatures, increased evaporation rates, and reduced snow cover in mountain glaciers, leading to water shortages.
- Most of Tajikistan's natural pastures are in mountainous areas at elevations ranging from 1,700-2,000m to 3,500m. The country's 3.8 million hectares of grazing land are mostly in the Khatlon (31%) and DRS (28%) regions.
- Overgrazing and climate change-induced erosion have degraded approximately 85% of all grazing lands.
- Severe erosion affects 89% of summer pastures and 97% of winter pastures. The increasing number of livestock is exacerbating overgrazing, threatening the biodiversity of surrounding ecosystems.
Today, we discussed the general status and farmland of agriculture in Tajikistan.
We will bring more insightful content next time.
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